New Delhi, Dec 27 (EFE).- The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced Wednesday the creation of a temporary committee to oversee the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), after the government suspended its newly formed administration amid protests by athletes over alleged sexual abuse in its ranks.
“The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has recently become aware that the recently appointed President and officials of WFI have made arbitrary decisions in violation of their own constitutional provisions and against the principles of good governance,” the association said in a statement.
Faced with this situation, the IOA announced a three-member ad-hoc committee that will oversee the running of the WFI.
This decision comes after the government on Sunday suspended the newly elected administrative committee of the WFI and urged the IOA to temporarily take over its affairs.
The official reason given by the government was that the newly elected WFI President Sanjay Singh announced two national competitions at the end of the year, in breach of the rules.
However, the WFI suspension came amid protests by wrestlers in relation to alleged sexual abuse by former president and member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, who is currently under investigation over the charges.
The wrestlers have voiced serious concerns – some even going on to the extent of returning their awards or quitting the sport – about the newly elected WFI body given that Sanjay Singh and most of the elected members are considered close to Brijbhushan Sharan Singh.
For almost a year, several of the most renowned wrestlers in India have been denouncing a series of sexual abuses in the WFI.
The election of the new WFI administration caused outrage among the athletes, claiming that nothing had changed as the power remained with the same officials and loyalists of the previous president.
Even the suspension of the WFI has not silenced the decorated sports personalities in a sign of hopelessness.
Sakshi Malik, winner of the bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics, bid a tearful goodbye to the game in protest, while Bajrang Punia – bronze medallist at Tokyo 2020 – tried to reach Prime Minister Narendra Modi to return his Padmashree award, the fourth-highest civilian honor, but was blocked by the police.
Vinesh Phogat, a Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold medalist, joined Punia on Tuesday and announced that she would return her trophies.
These awards «have no meaning in my life now. Every woman wants to live with respect,» she said on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Allegations of sexual abuse from female wrestlers within the WFI began in January and the complainants, frustrated by the authorities’ initial inaction and the police delay in filing charges against the former chief, camped out for nearly a month on the streets of New Delhi.
Malik, Punia, and dozens of other athletes were forcibly removed from the protest, resulting in dramatic images of wrestlers, who had successfully represented their country at the Olympics, being dragged away by police.
The developments come at a critical time for a sport in which India has won medals at all major competitions, given that the 2024 Paris Olympics are set to begin in July next year. EFE
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